Rites of Passage

Introduction

Human being is a social animal. By being a social being s/he maintains different levels of relationships. Some at the level of friendship, some at the level of parents, some at the level of children, students, teachers, husband, wife etc. Beyond all this s/he also maintains a special relationship, a relationship with a Superior Being to which s/he attributes the meaning of his or her life. By this act s/he falls into a system called 'religion'. In trying to express his or her religion s/he uses a vehicle or a medium called Ritual. Just as the language serves as a symbolic medium in his or her relationship with the fellow human beings, rituals serves as a medium of one's religious expression.

There are various types of rituals and they have been analysed and researched thoroughly by various scholars. In our essay we shall try to explain one such study done on the "Rites of Passage" by Victor Turner an anthropologist.

Ritual and its 3 Stages

Ritual is from a Greek word which means 'a thing done'. Rituals are certain acts performed by the believer/s at a particular time in relation with a deity or gods or divine beings in a particular place. They are performed to mark various occasions such as: hunting, planting, harvesting, historical events, installations, pilgrimages, healing, rain making, war, transition points in human life cycle etc. R.Schmidt classifies them into three categories,

1. Rites of passage

2. Calendrical Rites and

3. Special Rites.

As far as the scope of this essay is concerned we will deal only with the first category that is the 'Rites of Passage'

The rituals of passage mainly serves as a rite of initiation, into a new and an unfamiliar level of existence from an old and familiar level of existence. Such as either death or return to infancy or the womb, puberty, rituals of baptism in early Christianity, marriage etc. Victor Turner calls these rituals as 'Life-Crisis' rites'.

While researching on the rites of passage Arnold Van Gennep and Victor Turner observed a particular pattern that is incorporated in every such rite. The pattern or the three stages identified by Victor Turner are:

1. The Beginning of the ritual is marked by the stage of separation. The one who is undergoing the rite is separated from the profane ordinary world.

2. The second stage or phase is called liminal or transitional period. In this stage the participant after being separated from the profane world waits and anticipates to enter in the new life. During this stage the participant neither belongs to the previous familiar state of his existence nor has entered the new unfamiliar new state.

Victor Turner considers this threshold phase as very important because this stage offers the participant the time to gradually enter into the new community and gives him or her a sense of belonging to the community that s/he would soon join.

3. The third phase is the crucial phase where the real 'cross over' occurs. The participant enters the new community. This phase is a phase of 'incorporation'.

As we have clearly said ritual is a symbolic expression of one's religion which conveys a deeper meaning. This triadic structure especially symbolizes one's death to the old state in the period of separation, the passage to a new state in the liminal state and finally entering into a new life in the incorporation state.

There are various rites pertaining to various stages of our life which very closely follows the triadic structure discussed above like child birth, puberty, death etc. We shall try to identify and evaluate the above structure in one such 'life-crisis' rites.

The Puberty Rite

Puberty rites are performed to mark a male or female's maturing to sexuality. To be particular in our example we shall consider the puberty rites performed by the Luiseno Indians of Southern California.

THE RITE:

The participant who is undergoing the transition from his or her previous state of adolescence to a new state of maturity is separated from the normal worldly contact in a special place during which s/he is given a special drink prepared from the roots of Jimson wed. This is to effect visions and to experience the sacred presence which s/he has to identify later in the community one will be entering into. The participant is made to get down into a pit and made to climb up again. The norms and values of adult conduct in the community is taught by tough physical ordeals.

Evaluation

The above rite incorporates all the three stages of Victor Turner which can be explained as follows.

The participant's initial separation and stay in a special place signifies the separation experience the sacred through the consumption of a special drink. All this new experience mark the new life one is to enter.

In this particular Luiseno Puberty rite there is a striking symbolism of the liminal phase by the participant's entry into a pit and coming out of it again. it symbolizes ones death to the old life and entry into a new life.

In the final phase the participant is accepted in to the community as an adult. After which s/he receives both privileges and responsibilities of the particular community one has entered.

Criticism

When we critically look at the three stages, they are contradictory because in the initial stage it separates the participants from the world it considers as profane but after the final stage it lets back the participant in to the same world which it considers profane. Therefore instead of saying that the initial stage as a stage of separation from the profane world which ultimately does not serve the purpose, it would be more meaningful to say that solitary reclusion is to allow the participant to come into a self awareness that s/he is in a particular stage in the cycle of growth, where s/he is ready to enter into a so called new state of life. This may facilitate one to be prepared to face the psychological shock due to change of state. Otherwise it is like degrading one's previous state of existence, which every one have to cross over and hence indispensable.

Conclusion

Thus we can say that Victor Turner's stages of the 'rites of passage' is very closely adhered to the symbolism of the rituals. This understanding of the three stages of ritual will enable one to understand and appreciate the deeper meaning incorporated in to the rituals and hence not just a pack of actions and words that is put together without any meaning and value.

Fara

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